February 26, 2025Nick McLean welcomes Mie Yamashita, Head of Productivity at Reside, back to the show to break down why easy deals are dead—and why that’s actually a good thing. They dig into the reason agents struggle: skill gaps that go unchecked. Nick and Mie explain why no one is above sharpening their sword, how daily roleplay should be a non-negotiable, and why even top agents need to drill objections, negotiations, and closings like elite athletes. They also call out the biggest mistake experienced agents make—thinking they’ve “arrived” and no longer need training. If you want to sell more homes, win in a tougher market, and get better every single day, this episode is for you.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Sharpening the Sword: Why Improvement Never Stops
- 00:00:41 – Welcome to the Arena: Reside Platform Podcast Begins
- 00:01:13 – The Secret Weapon of Top Agents: Role Play
- 00:02:16 – Beyond the Basics: Role Play That Actually Works
- 00:06:29 – Turning Training Into a Game: Role Play That Sticks
- 00:13:18 – When Theory Meets Reality: Role Play in Action
- 00:20:19 – Embracing Discomfort: Why Struggle Creates Strength
- 00:23:49 – Do It Again: The Power of Repetition in Mastery
- 00:28:38 – Sales as a Language: The Art of Learning to Close
- 00:30:10 – Missed Opportunities: Why Agents Struggle to Close
- 00:36:12 – The 400-Hour Rule and Final Thoughts on WInning
Links and Resources:
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Episode breakdown: role play that builds real sales skill
Nick McLean and Mie Yamashita run a weekly 30-minute role-play session called Script Inferno for agents and team owners across the United States and Canada. In this episode they explain why harder deals call for sharper skills, and how a team leader can run role play that agents actually get better from. Their view is that it applies to everyone, from brand-new agents to veterans.
No one is above sharpening their sword.
Mie Yamashita
Role play every stage of the deal, every day
Nick recommends that everyone schedule 30 minutes of role play a day, ideally in the morning before getting on the phone. Mie prefers 15-minute one-on-one sessions. Both agree that experienced agents check out when role play stops at the first ring of an online lead call.
The fix is to practice the whole path from the first call to the closing table. That means presenting a comparative market analysis, presenting an offer to a listing agent, delivering a low offer, handling a counteroffer that misses the buyer’s expectations, and keeping a deal together. Mie’s question for every agent is whether they’re aware of their own skill gaps across that path.
Turn group sessions into games
Getting volunteers changed when Mie stopped asking “who wants to go first?” and started asking “who wants to improve their skills today?” From there, she uses formats that keep the whole group engaged. In the role-play snake, agents take turns answering an objection with a question rather than handling it. “I’m just looking” becomes “Are you local to the area or are you moving?” Anyone who can’t come up with a question, or repeats one, is out.
She also runs head-to-head battles and a drill called “That’s right,” where agents ask questions until they identify a prepared player’s top three motivators. Nick likes hot potato. A ball gets thrown around the room, and whoever catches it picks up the script where the last person stopped, so nobody can tune out. He also calls on people who seem distracted to give the feedback.
Facilitate and coach instead of performing
Early in his career, Nick wanted to lead by example by role playing everything himself. Now he and Mie facilitate and give feedback. Mie calls that the more effective kind of leading by example, because the leader shows up without stealing the agent’s struggle. In RISE’s one-on-one role plays there’s a 10-step structure. Agents ask for the appointment three times and don’t handle an objection until they’ve heard it the third time.
Feedback follows a set order. Start with what the agent did well, then always give them something to work on. Nick’s tool is “let’s try that again.” He rewinds to a line, asks for a different phrasing, a smile, better posture or a slower pace, and repeats until it’s clearly better.
Honesty without tact is cruel.
Mie Yamashita
Learn the route, then customize it
Mie compares scripts to GPS in a new town. At first you follow every turn exactly. Over time you learn the landmarks and stop looking at the screen, and eventually you know a faster back road. Script practice works the same way. The goal isn’t to force the real conversation to match the script. It’s to know how to reach the close when the conversation throws you off the route.
Nick, a former pilot, breaks conversations into phases the way a flight has checklists: the call that sets the appointment, the pre-appointment call, preparation, then the consultation. When an agent sets the appointment in role play, he has them play out the next phase right away. He also turns everyday questions in the office into role plays and reviews real calls line by line.
It’s rarely what you said that screwed it up. It’s what you didn’t say that didn’t get you to the next step.
Nick McLean
Practice the close, not just the opener
Nick borrowed an idea from Josh Waitzkin’s book The Art of Learning. Waitzkin practiced chess endgames while competitors drilled openings. Nick realized he’d trained his own agents on openers over and over, and then had a team that couldn’t close. Mie sees the same pattern. Agents who don’t know what to do after a yes will avoid asking for the appointment at all.
Nick and a longtime team member estimated that it takes about 400 hours of sales repetition to get an agent to good, meaning good enough to hand a good lead. At 30 minutes a day, he admits, that takes a while. Mie added that the 400 hours include real-life experience too, such as phone conversations and door knocking.
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Schedule role play daily, and include experienced agents.
- Practice consultations, pricing, negotiations and closes, not only the first call.
- Use games like the role-play snake and hot potato so the whole group stays engaged.
- Facilitate and give feedback rather than role playing every part yourself.
- Give feedback that starts with a strength and always ends with one thing to improve, then run it again.
- When an agent sets an appointment in practice, role play the next phase right away.
